Monday, 15 August 2011

Perfect Primal Mayonnaise

***UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE***
After much trial and error, I think Ive perfected the stick blender method. Stick (immersion) blender mayonnaise is super easy, fast, and almost infallible. If you own a stick blender, here's my recipe. If you don't own a stick blender and you love mayonnaise, get one! For those that want to "stick" with the beater method, read on.

I love me some mayonnaise, but Marcus REALLY loves him some mayonnaise.

However, I shudder every time I think about what is in the Hellman's I still love. Even worse is the Hellman's made with canola oil and marketed as heart healthy. There are so many things wrong with that declaration that I don't know even where to start. How can any oil that is subjected to high heat, degumming, deorderizing, and bleaching be good for you? Whatever heart healthy Omega-3s there were in the beginning have long since been oxidized out of existence. What's left is proinflammatory trans-fat. Healthy? Ha! Besides, there is more and more evidence that shows the whole heart disease-saturated fat link is non existent.

Okay, rant over.

But, we still love mayo. Which has sent me on the quest to make a perfect mayonnaise. Mayo is made from egg yolks (or even the whole egg), vinegar and/or lemon juice, and a lot of oil. Which oil to choose has been an interesting adventure. We want to choose an oil that is healthy, but also has the right taste and the right texture.

I tried with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), but the olive oil taste was overwhelming. Olive oil also makes it an interesting greenish colour which is neither here nor there except that it looks weird. Primal Kid refused to believe it was mayonnaise.

I next tried with coconut oil à la Mark's Daily Apple, but it solidified even at room temperature. It was pretty bland as well. I also tried with grapeseed oil, but it was boring too. Besides, its fatty acid profile isn't that spectacular either. I gave up on it for a while, but recently tried again and I think I've hit on a pretty darn good combo, if I do say so myself.

Anyone who has ever made mayonnaise knows that it can be finicky to make. It takes patience and cannot be rushed. If the stars aren't aligned properly it might not set. (*Update: apparently adding water to the yolks helps the emulsification process so I've added that to my recipe. I haven't had the mayo break since).

I use an electric mixer with the small bowl, but it could be made into a crossfit WOD by whisking by hand (I've never managed it) or you can use a blender.

Place egg yolks, salt, lemon juice, water, mustard and cayenne in the mixing bowl and beat until yolks are lighter coloured and creamy. If using a mixer, beat on low to medium speed, if a blender, use medium.

Add 1/4 cup of oil to yolk mixture, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, in drops. It doesn't matter which kind of oil you add first - I usually mix all mine together in a small cup. This step is the most important; if the oil is added too fast it won't emulsify. If using a mixer, occasionally run a spatula around the edge of the bowl to make sure the oil is incorporated evenly.

Once the first 1/4 cup of oil is in and the mixture is thickening, you can relax a little and add the remaining oil a teaspoon at a time in a thin stream.

This combination made a light coloured, velvety, perfectly textured, thick mayonnaise that passed Primal Kid inspection (EVOO makes it just slightly green; light olive oil makes it quite yellow). The coconut oil lightened the colour and the avocado oil added a depth and richness that was missing with just coconut oil.

If you like your mayo a little tangier you can add more lemon juice
either at the beginning or the end. This is also the time to add spices
or herbs for a gourmet flavour.

Thanks! Glad you liked the recipe. We're not from the south, we're Vancouver types. Ive been to some southern places, New Orleans, and San Antonio, but only for short trips. Did the mayo phrase make you think we've spent time there? Probably heard it somewhere.

About Us

Teresa and Marcus are an ordinary couple just like you. We work hard and we play hard, and we really like our down time. We like cool gadgets and toys, and we especially like things that add that little bit of luxury to what might otherwise be an ordinary day. We have concerns about the environment, and we want to make and leave the world a better place for our kids and pets. We want to share with you some of our favourite things that make our lives easier or more pleasurable. When we come across something we think we would want for ourselves, we do a ton of research to make sure it lives up to its promise. We read reviews, not from just one site, but from everywhere across the net. Once we have a good handle on how the product performs we put together a review website that reflects the current state of the product. We’ll let you know if we don’t think its worth your money and which ones are the bomb! We'll even let you know the best place to buy it. (Hint: its often Amazon).
We hope you will enjoy the fruits of our hard work and can buy some great things with confidence, knowing we’ve done all the research for you!